When Vittorio Sgarbi talks about Carrara, first he would perhaps do better to inform himself thoroughly

Vittorio Sgarbi ’s is certainly not a new presence around Carrara. We have had him in town several times, especially during exhibition openings and biennials. And now that the exhibition on Canova and the masters of marble has opened, could the “most famous art critic in Italy” miss the opportunity for a new foray into town? And indeed Sgarbi punctually arrived. And as long as he merely makes technical or substantive judgments about the exhibition, we may well be happy with his presence. Problems arise when Vittorio Sgarbi tries to expand his remarks to include what is happening in the city.

Speaking to journalists from the Tirreno newspaper in an interview that appeared the day after his visit to Carrara, Sgarbi, regarding the issue of marble quarries in relation to the Tuscany region’s landscape plan, said that the case of Carrara’s quarries would remind him of that of the “Palio of Siena” or “the bullfight in Spain,” because they are “elements so tied to the territory and the work of its people, that it is difficult to conceive what city without them,” and then put forward the hypothesis that closing the quarries “would be the death of the city.” He also ventured a remark: “If we had to be completely rigorous in the preservation of nature, today we would not have the sculptures of Michelangelo or Canova.”

Apart from what might be considerations dictated by common sense (which should have suggested to Sgarbi that the rhythms of excavation in the days of Michelangelo and Canova were not the same as today), I believe that no one better than a Carrarese, such as myself, knows the way of life in Carrara. And as a Carrarese, I would like to invite Sgarbi to inform himself thoroughly before making certain statements to the newspapers. And if that were not enough, we at Windows on Art would be happy to have a chat with him, live, when he returns to our town.

We could start with an incontrovertible fact: only 25 percent of the marble that is extracted from the mountains of Carrara comes out of the quarries in the form of a block. The remaining 75 percent is debris and waste from processing that will be used to produce calcium carbonate, which is used in industry mainly as an abrasive. And of that 25 percent of marble that is extracted in block form, there is only a small part, which is difficult to quantify, that is destined for the production of works of art: the blocks that transit from the quarries to the port every day are much more likely to go to line the walls of a bathroom than to end up in the hands of a sculptor.

We have devoted many insights to these issues (the reader interested in learning more can start from this article), and we can say that, perhaps, Carrara is not yet a dead city, but it is certainly a gravely ill city, and one that every now and then tries to rise again with some unexpected jolts of vitality, such as that of the spontaneous movement of citizens gathered in assembly after the devastating flood last November. But if the town were to be declared dead, this would certainly not be because of the closure of the quarries; on the contrary: Carrara as a whole would benefit profoundly from a reduction in mining. If Carrara is dying, the blame lies with the voracity of those who have been destroying the mountains in recent years for ephemeral and limited profit, enriching themselves behind the backs of most, and with no thought for the city’s future. With the blessing of an administration that has done little to seriously curb one of the most serious environmental devastations in Italy, and to decisively regulate an industry that at a now unsustainable pace is gobbling up a priceless asset to reduce it mostly to debris to be sold at negligible cost, but in large quantities. And with, in the background, gloomy scenarios that tell us, moreover, of predictable facts of illegality.

Vittorio Sgarbi. Photo by VVox distributed under a Creative Commons license.

If Sgarbi were to inform himself thoroughly about what is going on in Carrara, he would know that in the meantime, it is not a question of choosing between environment or art, as it would seem from the question posed in the Tirreno article: it is an unreasonable aut aut aut, an illogical forcing that no one has ever mounted in his mind. He would also know that no one wants a drastic closure of the quarries overnight. And he would know that there are committees, movements and associations that would like to see a reconversion of the economy of the Apuan Alps: against the occupational blackmail carried out by those who would like to maintain (and perhaps worsen) the status quo, against the rapacity of those who have enriched themselves and want to continue to enrich themselves with an asset that belongs to the entire community, against those who have wreaked havoc on the city, there are people who hypothesize a future in which the quarries will no longer serve to support the city’s economy, because the city will have been able to invest in developing theagricultural industry, biomass production, cultural, seaside, hiking and spa tourism, and quality crafts. Marble quarries will remain a hallmark of Carrara’s economy for a long time to come, but it is one thing to consider them a resource to be exploited to the detriment of the city, and quite another to consider them, as some associations would like, a spearhead to be limited to processing excellence, with the latter to be carried out almost exclusively in the territory. But a spearhead to be complemented by a diversified economy that can benefit the entire city.

It is true, as Sgarbi says, that Carrara is linked to marble. But it is also true that a bond can suffocate: and that is precisely what is happening to our city. If Sgarbi, on his next visit to Carrara, has the goodness to reflect on these issues, we will be glad to have one more person who can talk about the problems that plague our city. And by the way: about the Canova exhibition, Sgarbi spoke well. We will also visit it over the weekend and let you know.

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